this insurgency that is spreading across pakistan, not just afghanistan. to move through it quickly, the taliban have, for a long time, earned money off of the opium trade in afghanistan. what i found since 2001, they have increased their activities, the drug trade. they collect tax in the southern areas, usually 10% of the drug trade is different from district to district, a confusing situation. similar to your local mafia that operates, this is where the tony soprano model comes in, they force farmers, local residents, local shopkeepers to contribute to the insurgency. they call this protection money or gifts. in many cases as opposed to receiving actual cash, in a rural area, there is not a lot of money floating around, they actually receive physical items, they get motorcycles, vehicles, mobile phones because the insurgents change funds to try to avoid detection. they will demand the locals provide them with phone units, and the chips that go inside them. afghanistan is a country where the phone system his pay-as-you-go. they provide credit on those phones. even medical care, one of the inte
